I'm looking for books that give detailed operational histories of what happened when Tiger battalions (both Wehrmacht and SS) were on the front lines. Best would be books giving comprehensive coverage to all the battalions, but more focused volumes are of interest to me as well.
What books should I get? I'm only looking for excellent quality research.
Try this one, I have it and it is very good. A great read and a valuable resource. Over 370 illustrations and personal accounts.
The combat history of GERMAN TIGER TANK BATTALION 503 in World War II
By: DR. Franz-Wilhelm Lochmann, Richard Freiherr Von Rosen, Alfred Rubbel.
Published by Stackpole Books.
I don't know the name but I just saw an exhaustively detailed book on the shelf at Borders Tigers in Combat or something like that. It's a large book -- about 14 inches wide by 22 inches tall and a good 2 inches thick. It goes unit by unit and gives the OOB throughout the war.
Tigers in Combat by Wolfgang Schneider is a 2 volume set. Volume I covers the 10 or so Heer (army) battalions while Volume II covers the Waffen SS & GD battalions. They've been reprinted by Stackpole Books in softcover editions. The original hardcover books were published by J.J. Fedorowicz & they're long out of print.
Tiger 1 on the Eastern Front & Tiger 1 on the Western Front (both by Jean Restayn) is another good set. Not quite as good as Tigers in Combat but they contain some very interesting photos & artwork.
Another interesting single unit history is The Combat History of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 508 published by J.J. Fedorowicz.
Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II by Christopher Wilbeck gives a good overall snaphot of the Tiger battalions (draws heavily on Restayn & Schneider). It's published by Stackpole books.
Hope this helps...:)
There is also Patrick Agte's:
MICHAEL WITTMANN AND THE WAFFEN SS TIGER COMMANDERS OF THE LEIBSTANDARTE IN WWII volume 1 & 2
and
Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius
I don't know about the reprinted version of the Agte book but the original read like a Waffen SS recruiting pamphlet. I sold my copy on Ebay several years ago for 2 or 3 times what I paid for it.